Rourke Baby Record Updates: Growing With the Times

The Review Course in Family Medicine
6 days ago
2 min read

The latest edition of the Rourke Baby Record introduces several important updates which were just highlighted in the Canadian Family Physician Journal. Make sure you're providing the latest advice in your clinic, or on a SOO or SAMP!

Sadly, this update includes no evidence on use of dad jokes in primary care. Despite that shortcoming, here are the Key Highlights:

A new section on inclusive and culturally safe care addresses racism as a social determinant of health and promotes cultural humility.
The family functioning and behaviour section has been reorganized, with expanded content on early relational health (ERH), children’s mental health, parental depression, and housing challenges.
The developmental surveillance section has been improved to emphasize ongoing milestone assessment, parental concerns, and cultural considerations.
The immunization chart has been removed, with added focus on immunization pain management, vaccine hesitancy as a global threat, and referencing authoritative guidelines.
Additional web links guide physicians to non-primary care pediatric resources.

Section-Specific Updates:

Growth Charts: Now include guidance on regaining birth weight and use of BMI starting at age 2.
Nutrition: New recommendations for cow’s milk intake specify safe ranges to prevent iron deficiency. The section expands on plant-based diets, fiber and prebiotics, peanut introduction, and advises choosing healthy fats while limiting processed foods.
Education and Advice:
- Injury prevention now includes risks from cannabis ingestion, button batteries, and expanded SIDS and choking risk factors, along with the Canada Poison Control number.
- Healthy routines highlight sleep habits, outdoor play, management of colic (up to 6 months), and emphasize reading, singing, and speaking to children, with attention to early literacy risk factors.
- Environmental health warns about pesticide exposure and neurodevelopment, with resources on home safety, air quality, sun protection, insect bites, and well water.
Physical Examination: Adds screening for sentinel injuries related to maltreatment, monitoring for acholic stools as a sign of biliary atresia, and primitive reflex testing at 1 week and 6 months.
Investigations and Screening: Broader anemia screening now includes iron deficiency without anemia, acknowledging its impact on brain development.

If you want some help studying the milestones and the safety tips, The Review Course founder Dr. Simon Moore has written two children's books on this topic! Endorsed by Dr. Lesley Rourke herself!